My wife is a HUGE BTS fan. So much so that Spotify told her that she’s in the top 0.005% of all BTS listeners. This means I have to listen to BTS at home and in the car. So much so that it has grown on me. Anyway, we had watched them at the Rose Bowl a couple of years ago and this was their first US concert in 2 years due to the pandemic.
This was the first time I had been to SOFI stadium; Taylor Swift was supposed to be the opening act last July but that got delayed. I forgot who the first concert act was but I think the NFL may have been the first event there. Anyway, it’s a gorgeous stadium with a nice exterior landscaping too. The food was decenlty priced (think it was like $12 for chicken fingers and tots, a hot dog for $7(don’t get this), and a big draft beer for $15. The only gripe was the WIFI was AWEFUL. It’s ironic since when you’re outside, there is a voice overheard saying how you can enjoy WIFI all around the stadium. NOPE!
Anyway, back to the concert.. we attended BOTH the Saturday and Sunday shows (happy wife, happy life.) The Saturday show was very electric since it was the first of 4 shows. We sat around the 30 yard line in the 200’s which was a good view. On Sunday we sat in the back end zone in the 200’s. I think I prefer the back end zone just because you can see the big screen better. When you’re at the 30 yard line and they’re at the end of the runway, then you have to decide where you want to look. One of the cool things about a BTS concert is the light stick show that happens at every concert. Every fan (about 90%) is sort of peer pressured into buying this $70 light stick that syncs with the show.
Throughout the whole concert, I was thinking how impressed I was by the fact that they sold out 4 shows while resell prices were still netting you AT LEAST 2X on your money. Taylor Swift sold out 2 shows and while most tickets were still profitable, the ROI wasn’t as close to BTS (even if you factor in the fact that BTS blocks off 1/4 of the stadium, so really it’s 3 sold out shows vs Taytay’s 2 non-blocked seat shows.) I think they have the discography to do 2 full distinct shows and do 2 runs of that (kinda like when Halsey did 2 distinct shows in NY back in 2019.) This way, fans would feel pressurred to go both nights. With that said though, even at the Sunday show, half of the conversations we overheard were of people attending both nights (us included.) Anyway, the concert was great and I’m sure we’ll be going to the next one.
